Ireland captain Lorcan Tucker said it was a "pretty special thing" to beat India for the first time in internationals. On the back of his 36-ball 50 and impressive performances from the two debutants, Jai Moondra and Matt Hollard, Ireland registered a 34-run win to take a 1-0 lead in Belfast.
"It's pretty special thing to beat the world champions at home," Tucker said after the game. "[It is the] first game of the season, T20 cricket, but credit is due to the lads. I think we had two debutantes there who put in absolutely outstanding performances. To all the work that goes on behind the scenes, Cricket Ireland, everyone's very dedicated, and I think that's why we like to try and bring these results and support everyone."
Tucker added 64 with Gareth Delany, who made a 32-ball 49, to help Ireland to 182 for 9 before India were bowled out for 148. Tucker also became the first man to score a fifty in each of his first three matches as a T20Is captain.
"I think we scrapped through that game," Tucker said. "We had some tough periods in it, but we stayed in it and were diligent and we worked hard. We were lucky to get the reward in the end."
The key for Ireland were the lengths. With the straight boundaries much shorter than the square ones, they took a leaf out of India's book and hit the hard lengths to reap just rewards
"India bowled really well to start," Tucker said. "I think they bowled really good lengths. They didn't really waver from them, and they stuck at them. We found it challenging to hit good shots, and it nearly felt like a Test match at one stage. But we tried to stay in the game, build a partnership, and then took our opportunities when they came a bit later."
Tucker also heaped praise on the two debutants. Moondra struck with his first ball in internationals, having Sanju Samson chop on, while Hollard dismissed Ishan Kishan with his second ball.
"They were really dogged," he said. "I think we learned a lot from how India bowled in the first innings. They didn't really want to stray from their lengths. We tried to tell the lads to do that as well, and they just showed their skill and their accuracy and their ability to stay in that spot, and make it a challenge for their batters.
"Absolute credit to them. They worked so hard and they were able to execute their plans, whatever we asked of them."